Night Lights Classic Jazz
Mid-1960s club recordings reveal the saxophonist in full, uninhibited stride.
There was a strong relationship between jazz and civil rights in 20th-century America, and artists sometimes addressed the cause explicitly in their music.
J.R. Monterose is a saxophonist rarely heard even by jazz fans, and his most well-known recording, Charles Mingus’ Pithecanthropus Erectus, is one that Monterose himself later all but disowned. He recorded only sporadically as a leader and withdrew from the jazz world several times, woodshedding or playing in towns distant from the music’s metropolitan centers. His sound, although influenced by other tenor horns such as…
Takes on the standards from Eric Dolphy, Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman and more.
Goofin' on Disney: how movie songs for kids made their way into the jazz world.
Even if you don’t usually listen to jazz, chances are that you’ve heard Sonny Rollins, Phil Woods, Zoot Sims, Hugh Masekela, Chet Baker, and other jazz luminaries… did you know that it was Rollins soloing on the Rolling Stones’ “I’m Just Waiting on a Friend”?…
Night Lights talks with Henry Grimes, the legendary bassist who returned to the jazz scene after disappearing for more than 30 years.
When Rollins met Monk: the saxophonist was a hip, humorous, and musically expert foil for the brilliant corners of the pianist's mind.
The first-ever Night Lights Christmas program features music from Booker Ervin (“White Christmas” from his 1966 album Solid Structure), Ahmad Jamal (“Snowfall,” written by Terre Haute, Indiana native Claude Thornhill), Sonny Rollins (“Winter Wonderland”), Babs Gonzalez (“Bebop Santa Claus”), Bill Evans (a rare and amusing vocal take…
The Hawk Heads Home: Coleman Hawkins in the Early 1960s” was broadcast in honor of the Hawkins centenary on Sunday, Nov. 21, 2004. The early 1960s were Hawkins’ last great period, and this program features music from his Today and Now lp, his bossa nova effort (Desafinado), and his collaborations with Duke Ellington…
David Brent Johnson hosts the weekly WFIU historical jazz program Night Lights and Afterglow as well. Learn more »
In 1964 Dean Martin recorded a laidback martini-at-the-fireside album that included the original version of a song that would soon become his signature tune.
Afterglow is WFIU's weekly program of jazz and American popular song hosted by David Brent Johnson.
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